HOUSTON (Reuters) -Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday receives approval to begin work on its fourth offshore oil project in Guyana from the South American country’s Environmental Protection Agency.
The permit will allow Exxon to begin construction and operation of its Yellowtail project, the latest of up to 10 expected to be producting oil this decade. When output begins in 2025, the project would pump up to 250,000 barrels of oil and gas per day (bpd), the company has said.
Since Exxon and partners Hess Corp and CNOOC Ltd. started exploring off the coast of the America country in 2015, they have made a series of discoveries that have found more than 10 billion barrels of oil and gas.
Yellowtail was the consortium’s 13th discovery in the Stabroek block, an area covering 6.6 million acres (26,800 square kilometers), and one of the largest oil finds in South America.
Exxon has proposed a development plan for the Yellowtail project that will require up to three ships drilling up to 67 wells.
The Guyana EPA permit prohibits routine flaring and venting of natural gas during operation and requires Exxon to keep an undersea device, called a capping stack, that can seal a well in event of an accident, according to an statement by the Guyana EPA.
It also required the partners to have insurance to cover any environmental damages and to provide a guarantee that idemnifies Guyana in event the consortium fails to meet their obligations, the EPA said.
The EPA permit “comprehensively addressed all environmental and social safeguards that are reasonably necessary to protect human health and the environment,” the EPA wrote.
Earlier this year, Exxon started up a new floating production, storage and offloading vessel that will bring the group’s oil production capacity this year to more than 340,000 bpd.
(Reporting by Gary McWilliams)
